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While I share money-making strategies, nothing is “typical”, and outcomes are based on each individual. There are no guarantees.
Let me guess: you have ideas you want to share, stories you need to tell, but the thought of building a website, managing an email list, and figuring out how to get paid sounds… exhausting. What if you could just skip all that? What if you could have a beautiful publication, a direct line to your readers’ inboxes, and a way to earn money from your work—all set up in the next five minutes, for free?
You’re thinking about starting a newsletter in 2026, but the number of tools is just insane. You’ve heard of WordPress, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and a dozen others. Each one needs setup, design, and a monthly fee. It feels like you have to become a web developer and a marketing genius just to get your words out there. That friction, that technical wall, is why so many brilliant writers give up before they even start. You feel stuck, maybe with a desk full of sticky notes packed with ideas, but zero posts published because making it real seems like a mountain of a task.
But what if the platform did all the heavy lifting for you? What if one single place combined a blog, a newsletter, and even paid subscriptions into one ridiculously simple package? That place is Substack, and it has completely changed the game for independent writers. It’s designed to kill the technical headaches so you can focus on the one thing that actually matters: your writing.
What is Substack & Why It Matters
So, what exactly is Substack? Simply put, it’s an online platform that lets you publish posts directly to subscribers through email and on the web. But that description doesn’t really do it justice. It’s not just another blogging tool; it’s an entire ecosystem built around the direct link between a creator and their audience.
Think of it like this:
First, you have the Newsletter. When you hit publish, your post lands directly in the inbox of every single subscriber. This is the heart of Substack. Instead of screaming into the void of a crowded social media feed, you’re a welcome guest in their personal space.
Second, you have the Publication. Every post you write also lives on a clean, professional website that Substack instantly creates for you. This is your home on the web. It’s where new readers can find your work, browse your archives, and decide if you’re for them. It’s a full-on blog, and you don’t have to touch a single line of code.
And third, you have the Discovery Network. This is what makes Substack a community, not just a tool. It includes features like Substack Notes—a built-in social feed that’s become a powerful discovery engine—and a Recommendations system that helps new readers find you through writers they already trust. This creates a network effect that helps you grow organically.
Now, why does this matter so much? It all comes down to one word: ownership. On social media, you’re just renting space. An algorithm controls your audience, and the platform can change the rules overnight, tanking your reach and your income. Substack is different. You own your email list. If you decide to leave tomorrow, you can export every subscriber and take them with you. You own your content. And you own the financial relationship with your subscribers. This puts the power back where it belongs: with the creator.
In a world full of algorithmic gatekeepers, Substack gives you a direct, unfiltered channel to your audience. It uses the power of email—the biggest and most personal social network on the planet—to help you build a real community that’s invested in your work. That direct connection is the key to a sustainable creative career, and Substack makes it possible for everyone.
Getting Started: Your First 30 Minutes on Substack
Alright, let’s get practical. I’m going to walk you through the exact steps to get your publication live.
Step 1: Create Your Account & Publication
First, head to Substack.com and click that big “Start Writing” button. You can sign up with X (formerly Twitter) or just your email. Let’s stick with email. Pop in your email, create a password, and Substack will walk you through the rest.
First up is your writer profile. This is you. Upload a clear photo—people connect with faces, not logos. Then, write a short, direct bio. Ditch the vague stuff like “Lover of books and coffee.” Instead, tell people exactly what you do. “I break down AI trends for non-techies” or “Productivity tips for creative freelancers.” This instantly tells a reader if they’re in the right place.
Next, you’ll set up the publication itself. Think of it as your digital magazine. You need a name and a one-line description. Don’t overthink the name! You’re not carving it in stone. If you write about baking, “The Weekly Loaf” works way better than “Jane’s Thoughts.” The one-liner is your promise. What will readers get? “A weekly recipe and the story behind it.” Perfect.
Finally, you’ll set your URL, like yourpublication.substack.com. Keep it simple and memorable. And just like that, your publication exists. You have a home on the internet.
Step 2: Exploring the Dashboard
You’ll land on your dashboard next. This is your command center, and it’s refreshingly simple. Here’s a quick tour:
- Home: A snapshot of your subscribers, revenue, and recent posts. Substack often puts helpful tips here, too.
- Posts: This is where you’ll live. It lists all your drafts and published work. From here, you can start a new post or see how your last one performed.
- Subscribers: Your complete list of subscribers. You can see their emails, when they joined, and if they’re a free or paid member. This is your audience—and you own this list.
- Stats: See how you’re doing. Substack shows you total views, email open rates, and where your new subscribers are coming from. This data is gold for figuring out what’s working.
- Settings: The control panel. We’re heading there next.
Step 3: Customizing Your Publication
Click on that “Settings” tab. Don’t get overwhelmed; it’s all laid out logically. Here are the most important things to tackle first:
First is Publication Details. You can edit your name and description here, but the crucial part is your “About” page. This is your sales pitch. Take a few minutes to explain who you are, what you write about, and why someone should trust you with their email address. You should also pin your best post or a dedicated ‘hero’ post to your homepage to give new visitors a taste of your best stuff.
Next, Website Design. Substack gives you simple tools to customize your site’s look. Upload a logo, pick an accent color, choose a layout. You don’t need to be a designer. Just pick a color and font you like. The goal is clean and readable.
Then, there’s the Welcome Email. This is the automated email every new subscriber gets. It’s your first real interaction, so make it count! Thank them, remind them what to expect, and maybe link to a couple of your best articles to get them hooked immediately.
There are other options, but for now, nailing your About page, a simple design, and a solid welcome email is more than enough.
Creating and Publishing Your First Post
You’ve got a publication. You know your way around. Now for the fun part: writing and publishing.
From your dashboard, hit “New post.” Welcome to the Substack editor. If you’ve ever used Google Docs or written an email, you’ll feel right at home. It’s clean and minimalist, designed to keep you focused.
At the top, you have your Title and Subtitle. Make the title intriguing—it’s your hook. The rest of the page is your canvas. You’ve got simple formatting buttons for bold, italics, and links. You can create headings to structure your post and use blockquotes to make key passages pop.
But modern writing is more than text. Substack makes adding multimedia a breeze. You can upload images, or just paste a YouTube link to embed a video. The platform even has built-in support to host your own audio and video, so you can publish podcasts and video essays directly.
One of the most powerful tools is the “Buttons” feature. You can insert custom buttons anywhere, especially a “Subscribe” button. Posts with a subscribe button in the text get way more subscribers, so make it a habit.
Another key feature is the paywall break. If you have paid subscriptions turned on, you can insert a “Paywall” break anywhere. Everything above it is free for everyone; everything below is locked for paying members. This is how you give readers a taste of your premium work.
Once you’re happy with your post, click “Continue.” This takes you to the publish screen. This is an important step. You decide who gets the post (everyone, paid only) and how it gets published (email and web, or just web). You can also add a short email preview, allow comments, and even schedule it for later.
When you’re ready, you hit that big “Send to everyone now” button. Your work is out in the world. It’s in people’s inboxes and live on your corner of the internet. It really is that simple.
The Art and Science of Monetization
Okay, let’s talk money. One of Substack’s killer features is its integrated payment system. It lets you earn a living directly from your audience. But just because you can turn on payments doesn’t mean you should on day one.
When Should You Turn on Paid Subscriptions?
This is the number one question new writers ask. It’s tempting to flip the switch right away, but for most people, that’s a mistake. Monetization is built on trust, and trust takes time. The proven approach is to publish everything for free at first. Focus on delivering incredible value and building a loyal audience. Let people get to know your work. Once you have a consistent publishing habit and a community that loves what you do—maybe a few hundred or even a thousand free subscribers—then you introduce a paid offer.
How to Turn on Payments
When you’re ready, it’s incredibly simple. In your dashboard settings, find the “Payments” section. Substack will guide you through connecting a Stripe account, which is the processor that handles the transactions. You just fill out some basic info, and that’s it. Substack handles all the billing, payouts, and tax stuff, which is a massive headache off your plate.
Setting Your Price and Tiers
Once Stripe is connected, you set your prices. Substack offers three tiers:
- Monthly Subscription: The most common choice.
- Annual Subscription: Offer a discount for a year-long commitment. It’s great for predictable income.
- Founding Member: A special, higher-priced tier for your biggest fans. You can set any price and offer extra perks, or just let them show their support.
So, what should you charge? Most Substacks are in the $5 to $20 a month range. Price your work based on the value you provide. If you’re writing deep, niche analysis that helps people in their career, you can charge more. If you’re writing personal essays, you might start on the lower end. Charge what you’re worth, but make sure it feels fair.
Monetization Models
You can approach this in a few ways:
- The Hybrid Model (Most Common): You publish a mix of free and paid content. The free posts are your marketing, drawing new readers in. The paid posts are the exclusive, premium stuff—deeper analysis, bonus content, community access—that convinces them to upgrade.
- The Paid-Only Model: Almost everything is behind the paywall. This can work if you already have a big audience or are offering highly specialized, need-to-have information.
- The Support Model: All content is free, but you give readers the option to pay simply to support your work. It’s essentially patronage, and it works best when you’ve built a strong personal connection with your readers.
Understanding the Fees
Substack’s business model is transparent. The platform is free to use if you’re only publishing free content. When you start making money, Substack takes a 10% cut. On top of that, the payment processor, Stripe, takes a fee of around 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. While there were some brief tests with other models, this creator-aligned structure has remained the standard. You keep roughly 90% of your revenue before Stripe’s fees. Substack only makes money when you do, which means they want you to succeed.
How to Grow Your Substack
Publishing great stuff is step one, but it doesn’t guarantee an audience. Growth on Substack isn’t magic; it’s a strategy. Let’s break down the most effective ways to grow in 2026.
Leveraging the Substack Network (Internal Growth)
One of Substack’s biggest advantages is its built-in ecosystem.
- Substack Notes: Forget thinking of this as “a bit like Twitter.” As of 2026, Notes is the single most powerful discovery tool on the platform. It’s a short-form feed where writers share ideas and engage. Crucially, the algorithm is now designed to show your notes to people outside your current subscribers, actively favoring unknown creators to help them get discovered. Consistently posting good content on Notes—especially with visuals like photos or video clips—is a direct path to new subscribers.
- Recommendations: This is Substack’s original growth engine. You recommend other publications you love, and they recommend you back. When someone subscribes to your newsletter, they’re shown your recommendations, creating an organic growth loop. Find 5-10 writers in your niche, build a real relationship, and propose a swap. It’s a win-win.
- Substack Live Video: Initially an advanced feature, live video is now a core growth engine and arguably the highest-leverage tool on the platform. Going live sends a notification to all of your subscribers, bypassing any algorithm. It launched broadly in early 2025 and is now fully mature, allowing you to host AMAs, workshops, or behind-the-scenes chats that drive huge engagement and new subscribers.
Promoting Your Substack Externally (External Growth)
Don’t ignore the outside world.
- Use Social Media as a Funnel: Don’t abandon X, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Use them to post valuable snippets that tease your longer Substack articles. The goal is to funnel people from platforms you don’t control to the one you do: your email list.
- Define Your Niche Clearly: This is the foundation of all growth. If you write for everyone, you’ll reach no one. A sharp niche—”AI trends for marketers,” “Productivity for parents”—helps the right people find you and helps the Substack algorithm recommend you to relevant readers.
- Import Your Existing List: If you have an email list somewhere else, import it directly into Substack. It’s a massive head start that lets you bring your audience with you.
Growth is a marathon. Commit to a sustainable schedule, like one great post a week and a few engaging Notes per day, and you’ll build unstoppable momentum.
Advanced Substack Features & Strategies
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can explore Substack’s other tools to deepen your connection with your audience.
- Podcasting and Video: Substack isn’t just for text anymore. It has robust support for both podcasting and video. You can record, upload, and distribute your podcast to Spotify and Apple Podcasts, all from one place. You can also host video content directly, creating a true home base for all your creative work.
- Threads and Chat: To build a real community, Substack offers Chat, a private group-chat feature for you and your subscribers right in the app. It’s perfect for hosting discussions and Q&As in a more intimate, conversational setting, turning your publication into a two-way conversation.
- Analytics Deep Dive: Go beyond just your total subscriber count. Look at your email open rates. If they drop, are your subject lines weak? Check your click-through rates. Are people engaging? Most importantly, look at your sources of growth. Is it Notes, Recommendations, or social media? This data tells you exactly what’s working so you can do more of it.
- Diversifying Your Income: Smart creators in 2026 use their Substack as a trust engine to sell higher-value products. The newsletter builds the audience and connection. From there, you can offer coaching, consulting, digital products, or workshops. The Substack becomes the top of a funnel that leads to more significant income streams, which often live outside the platform itself.
And the most critical strategy of all: never forget you have ownership. Your ability to export your content and email list is your ultimate security blanket. The community you build is truly yours.
Conclusion
So there you have it. The overwhelming tech, the confusing platforms, the fear—Substack was built to solve all of that. It strips away the complexity and gives you a simple, powerful tool that combines a website, a newsletter, and a payment system into one elegant package.
The path to a successful publication is no longer just for people with tech skills or marketing budgets. It’s for anyone with valuable ideas and the consistency to show up. Substack gives you the tools for discovery, the power of a direct connection, and true ownership over your business.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to take the first step. Go to Substack.com, create your publication, and write that first post. The only thing holding you back now is you. So go, start writing.
